The Happiness Myth

I finally finished “The Happiness Myth - Why what we think is right is wrong” by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Hecht is a wonderful writer. I read most of the book from a beach chair in Aruba while sipping more than my fair share of cocktails, a combination that created more than a few ironic moments. I found it to be a helpful and enriching addition to my vacation. The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it’s a bit crowded with information. Had a less engaging writer written it, it might have risked boredom, but Hecht creates lovely prose to keep the reader engaged throughout.

The book takes us on a journey through history as we examine the shifts in cultural ideas about what makes people happy; such as, our ideas about drugs, money, religion, shopping, eating, exercise, celebrations, and sex. I’ve often pondered the notion that our measures of happiness may not always line up with what actually makes us happy. Hecht suggests the reason is that there are three main types of happiness - a good day, euphoria, and a good life. Often those things are in opposition and anyone looking for happiness will need to keep all three in balance or their quest may be doomed to fail. Understanding those categories of happiness might help us make better decisions. We might be willing to sacrifice a few good days in order to achieve a moment or two of brief euphoria; at other times, we may make the mistake of chasing euphoric moments at the expense of a happy life.

The mark of a good book is that it has the power to change the reader in some way. In order to create change, it has to first make us skeptical about the way things are. Hecht is a notorious skeptic, and this book is a wonderful adventure in the healthiest and happiest form of doubt.

Five Writers Who Changed Me

One of my favorite bloggers, Dr. James McGrath, tagged me in a meme that is working its way around the internet. The rules are, “name the five books (or scholars) that had the most immediate and lasting influence on how you read the Bible. Note that these need not be your five favorite books, or even the five with which you most strongly agree. Instead, I want to know what five books have permanently changed the way you think.”

Here is my list:

1) The first time I picked up Marcus Borg’s book, “Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally”, I couldn’t get past the first 2 chapters. I thought I’d burn in hell if I kept reading it, so I put it back on the shelf. A year later, I returned to it and I not only fell in love with Marcus Borg’s writing, I also fell in love with the Bible. The difference in my perspective between the first time I picked up the book and the response I had a year later is the work of the second author on my list…

2) Brian McLaren and his trilogy “A New Kind of Christian” gave me permission to think, question, and reexamine my view of scripture. It seems silly that I would need “permission”, but I found this book at just the right time in my life. I wasn’t sure about progressive theology, yet I knew deep down that I was conflicted about the simplistic faith I was publicly professing. Even though I couldn’t buy in wholeheartedly to that Evangelical faith of my childhood, I didn’t realize I could question it without throwing away my life. In many ways, I’ve moved “past” Mclaren’s theology. He’s a trendy author who keeps one foot in the superficial pop culture of Evangelicalism. That’s not something I share with him any more, but McLaren provided an instrumental step in my growth and I’ll always thank him for that important push out of the nest. I’ll never forget his engaging characters and moving stories.

3) John Shelby Spong is famous for writing books that draw attention by being overly dramatic and extremely critical. I remember seeing the bright red book jacket on “The Sins of Scripture” and thinking he was just out to piss people off. I was wrong. The book that really won me over was “Resurrection: Myth or Reality”. In that work, Bishop Spong opens up the world of the Jewish Midrash and makes a strong case for how the New Testament authors followed this tradition in crafting the Gospels and generating the subsequent legends of Jesus. That theory assembled the key pieces of the way I now read and appreciate the gospel narratives.

4) “Jesus and Nonviolence” by Walter Wink is a small book, barely more than a pamphlet, but it packs a big punch. It is also a great book for small group discussions. You can read it in one sitting and unpack it for days. After reading this exegesis of Jesus’ teachings, I’ve never read the parables of Jesus the same way again.

5) When I first heard Walter Brueggemann speak, I avoided the Old Testament like a plague. I was certain that the prophets were antiquity’s version of a modern 1-900 psychic hotline. Brueggeman shattered that notion, and his book “The Prophetic Imagination” changed the way I approach the Old Testament. The prophets are now my favorite books in the Bible and “The Prophetic Imagination” may be the best book I’ve ever read.

Looking Forward or Looking Back?

HT: Tripp Fuller